Earth Day is April 22, during final exams, so UAB Sustainability will host a series of events April 6-10, including the Arbor Day celebration, where you can snag a free tree, and the UAB Earth Month Festival.

The Farm Stand will be bringing fresh fruits and vegetables and other delicious treats to UAB each week, beginning April 7. This year Boozer Farms will now be operating The Farm Stand 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Check the schedule online.

James McClintock, Ph.D., endowed professor of polar and marine biology, received the Odessa Woolfolk Community Service Award for using his lifetime of work in Antarctica to educate students and the public about the value and excitement of pursuing science on the remote continent.

Lisa Tamiris Becker directs a research center like no other at UAB—the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, which explores the meaning, context, and history of art from around the world. Get to know Birmingham’s newest cultural ambassador as she pursues artistic breakthroughs and previews upcoming exhibitions in UAB Magazine.

Curtis A. Carver Jr., Ph.D., comes to UAB from the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, for which he served as vice chancellor and chief information officer. He will be the senior IT leader at UAB and also hold an academic appointment in computer sciences. His first day at UAB will be June 1.

It’s a robot with the soul of an artist. The R2 PaintBot, conceived by UAB engineering students and financed through the Crowdfunding at UAB initiative, is designed to paint murals all across Birmingham in concert with the Magic City Mural Collective.

The UAB EXPO showcases the academic endeavors of nearly 200 undergraduate students in many of the majors offered at UAB. Graduate students, post docs and faculty are encouraged to help judge the presentations; apply online.

UAB ophthalmologists are racing to save our sight. While the number of Americans with glaucoma could double by 2050, UAB’s team of specialists and scientists is expanding knowledge about the disease. Discover how expert care, clever inventions, and engineering ingenuity could lead to early detection and new treatments in UAB Magazine.

James McClintock, Ph.D., endowed professor of polar and marine biology, received the Odessa Woolfolk Community Service Award for using his lifetime of work in Antarctica to educate students and the public about the value and excitement of pursuing science on the remote continent.

Curtis A. Carver Jr., Ph.D., comes to UAB from the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, for which he served as vice chancellor and chief information officer. He will be the senior IT leader at UAB and also hold an academic appointment in computer sciences. His first day at UAB will be June 1.

Lisa Tamiris Becker directs a research center like no other at UAB—the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, which explores the meaning, context, and history of art from around the world. Get to know Birmingham’s newest cultural ambassador as she pursues artistic breakthroughs and previews upcoming exhibitions in UAB Magazine.

The Farm Stand will be bringing fresh fruits and vegetables and other delicious treats to UAB each week, beginning April 7. This year Boozer Farms will now be operating The Farm Stand 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Check the schedule online.

Earth Day is April 22, during final exams, so UAB Sustainability will host a series of events April 6-10, including the Arbor Day celebration, where you can snag a free tree, and the UAB Earth Month Festival.

A Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges reaffirmation committee completed its campus visit this week as part of UAB’s reaccreditation process. In an email to students, faculty and staff, Provost Linda Lucas shared positive preliminary results.

A committee chaired by College of Arts and Sciences Dean Robert Palazzo, Ph.D., will lead the national search for UAB’s vice provost for Enrollment Management. Finalists will be invited to campus to meet with students, faculty and staff by late spring.

A committee chaired by UAB Collat School of Business Dean Eric Jack will guide the national search for UAB’s vice president of Student Affairs. The committee will review candidates, and finalists will be invited to campus by late spring to meet with students, faculty and staff.

Representatives from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges will make an onsite visit Feb. 24-26 as part of the process of reaffirming UAB’s accreditation. Information about the process, links to UAB’s Compliance Certification and QEP, are at www.uab.edu/accreditation.

More than 100 stakeholders have participated in focus groups and discussions thus far. All employees and students are invited to provide their input by completing an online survey, which will be available through Jan. 23.

The UAB Faculty Senate approved two resolutions during its specially called meeting Jan. 15. The first expressed their support for athletics. The second expressed a lack of confidence in the leadership of UAB President Ray Watts.

Afterward, Watts said he is committed to work to regain the confidence of the UAB community.

“I’m obviously disappointed, but what this vote means to me is that I have more work to do to find common ground so we can move forward, and I am up to this challenge,” Watts said. “I truly want to thank our students, faculty, staff, alumni and supporters who have made their voices heard in a constructive way.

“We have a great university. We have thousands of talented people who are making world-changing breakthroughs right here in Birmingham at UAB,” Watts said.

“My focus moving forward is to work with our community to carry out our mission. As president I am totally committed to the future of UAB and the many great things we are doing here.”

As a result of rising state retirement and health-care costs and uncertainties regarding state and federal budgets, UAB announced changes to certain employee benefits in May 2013 to be phased in over a two-year period. Effective Jan. 1, 2015,

UAB is launching a new platform, Crowdfunding at UAB, that will enable project creators to generate support from those with a desire to give directly to their project. Anyone with a solution to a genuine need or problem can apply to be included. The first three projects are online to see.